St. Petersburg is first city in state to adopt wage dispute program

ST. PETERSBURG — The City Council unanimously approved a measure to create a program to intervene in wage disputes, making it the first city in Florida to do so.

Council member Darden Rice has pushed the measure as a way for workers who have not been paid what they are owed, forced to work for free or not paid at all to seek redress without having to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit.

"We're setting a tone of leadership for Tampa Bay," Rice said moments before the vote.

Mayor Rick Kriseman announced earlier this week that he is in favor of the measure. He said he hasn't heard any pushback from local businesses.

"Good businesses want a level playing field," the mayor said at a Tuesday news conference.

The ordinance would allow workers to file a claim with the city for no charge. The city would then notify the employer and seek a resolution. Rice has said she crafted the ordinance to encourage businesses to settle with their employees without proceeding to a hearing officer. If a hearing officer finds in favor of the employee, then the employer will be liable for the back wages plus double that amount in damages.

The ordinance doesn't have much enforcement teeth now, but Rice has said options include publishing the names of offending businesses and barring them from future city contracts.

If an employee loses a claim, no charges will be assessed.

"We might not recuperate 100 percent of the cost," Rice said earlier this week.

A Tampa lawyer who represents employers in wage disputes said a local law would only add an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy to an issue that can be settled easily in the court system.

"There is already plenty of oversight," said Andrew Froman, a partner with the Fisher & Phillips law firm.

Froman predicted that if St. Petersburg passes the ordinance and Pinellas County follows suit as some commissioners have indicated, then similar proposals could pop up in Tampa and Hillsborough County.

"If successful, it'll be over here soon enough," Froman said.

For several years, business groups in Tallahassee have attempted to pass state laws barring cities and counties from enacting "wage-theft" ordinances, but those attempts have failed. No such legislation surfaced this session.

Unions have lobbied for the measure, which is modeled on a Miami-Dade County ordinance that has recovered more than $3 million since 2010.